Etymologically
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stout

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Pronunciation

Etymology

It is inherited from Middle English stoute,[2][3] borrowed from Anglo-Norman stout,[4][5][6][7] the northeastern dialect form of Old French estout (“brave, fierce, proud”), earlier estolt and estult.[8][2][9] The Anglo-Norman adjective is recorded from 1121–25, meaning bold, brave, fierce, and also stubborn.[10] The French word is of Germanic origin,[8][11][12] from Proto-West Germanic *stulta- (“proud”),[8][6] *stultaz (“bold, proud”),[13][14] the source also of Old Frisian stult (“proud”), Middle Low German stolt (“stately, proud”), Middle Dutch stout and stolt, Old High German stolz and German stolz (“proud”).[8][9][3][15] Old Norse stoltr was borrowed from Low German.[8] Some scholars take the Germanic word as an early borrowing of Latin stultus (“foolish”), with a remarkable change of meaning;[8][16][14] others regard it as native, an ablaut variant of the base of stilt.[8][6][3][9][4] Etymonline and the American Heritage Dictionary go back to Proto-Indo-European *stel- (“to put, stand”).[2][11] The noun, a strong beer, is probably short for stout ale or stout beer, though these are recorded later.[8][4][7][6]

Earliest recorded meaning

Fierce, furious: about 1300, in the Beket;[8] also proud, haughty (about 1315) and brave, valiant (about 1325).[8] Barnhart finds it probably before 1300 in Arthour and Merlin, meaning proud, fierce, brave, strong and defiant.[9]

Semantic evolution

Ayto traces a shift from bravery to physical strength and a powerful build.[5] The sense "strong in body, powerfully built" is dated about 1300 by Etymonline but 1390 by the OED, and it became a major sense by the 15th century;[2][17] of things, "strongly built, solid", it dates from about 1400.[2] The proud and fierce senses died out between the 15th and 19th centuries.[8] About 1800 the word came to be used, often euphemistically, for "fat, thick-bodied" (first recorded 1804);[2][9][16][5] this sense has largely displaced "powerfully built", which the OED now records only in American dialect.[2][17] The older meaning survives in stouthearted (1550s) and stoutly.[2][16][9] Applied to ale or beer, stout meant having body (1698–1826),[17][6] and the noun stout is recorded from 1677, first as a cant name for strong beer;[8][18][19] since about 1750 it has denoted a strong, dark kind of porter.[18][2][8] The verb stout, to be defiant, is recorded from 1303; only to stout it out survived, and is now rare.[8][12] In Scottish and northern English dialect the adjective meant healthy, well-grown or convalescent.[20]

Timeline

  • c. 1300 – fierce, furious (obsolete).[8]
  • 1303 – verb, to be defiant (obsolete).[8]
  • c. 1315 – proud, haughty (obsolete).[8]
  • c. 1325 – valiant, brave.[8]
  • 1390 – strong in body, powerfully built.[8][17]
  • 1550s – stout-hearted.[2]
  • 1622 – of a ship, strongly built.[17]
  • 1677 – noun, strong beer.[8][18][12]
  • 1804 – fat, corpulent.[2][9]

Meanings

Adjective

  1. Heavily built; fat or corpulent: a stout old gentleman.[21][12][4]
  2. Brave and determined; resolute: a stout defender of free speech.[21][12][8]
  3. Strong, thick and solid; sturdy: stout walking shoes.[21][12][8]
  4. Of a fight or resistance, vigorous and firm.[8][12]
  5. (archaic) Arrogant, haughty.[12][8]

Noun

  1. A strong, dark beer brewed with roasted malt or barley, a heavier kind of porter.[21][12][4]
  2. A fat person; a clothing size for a large figure.[12]

Verb

  1. stout it out: to persist defiantly; to brave it out (now rare).[8][12]

Word family

  • stoutish
  • stoutly
  • stoutness
  • overstout
  • unstout
  • stouten
  • stouthearted
  • stilt
  • stultify

References

  1. ^ Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
  3. ^ a b c Klein, Ernest. A Comprehensive Etymological Dictionary of the English Language. 2 vols. Amsterdam: Elsevier, 1966–1967.
  4. ^ a b c d e Shorter Oxford English Dictionary on Historical Principles (2002), 5th ed., ed. William R. Trumble and Angus Stevenson, Oxford: Oxford University Press
  5. ^ a b c Ayto, John (2005), Word Origins: The Secret Histories of English Words from A to Z, 2nd ed., London: A & C Black
  6. ^ a b c d e Hoad, T. F., ed. (1986), The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology, Oxford: Clarendon Press
  7. ^ a b Stevenson, Angus, ed. (2010), Oxford Dictionary of English, 3rd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
  8. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t u v w x y Oxford English Dictionary Online (accessed March 2026), Oxford: Oxford University Press
  9. ^ a b c d e f g Barnhart, Robert K. (1988), The Barnhart Dictionary of Etymology
  10. ^ Anglo-Norman Dictionary (AND2), Aberystwyth University, anglo-norman.net (2nd ed., 2005–)
  11. ^ a b The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language (online 2024), 5th ed., Boston: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt
  12. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
  13. ^ Random House Webster's Unabridged Dictionary (1999), 2nd ed., New York: Random House
  14. ^ a b Köbler, Gerhard (2014), Germanisches Wörterbuch, 5th ed., online, koeblergerhard.de/wikiling
  15. ^ Heidermanns, Frank (1993), Etymologisches Wörterbuch der germanischen Primäradjektive, Berlin / New York: De Gruyter
  16. ^ a b c Weekley, Ernest (1921), An Etymological Dictionary of Modern English, London: John Murray
  17. ^ a b c d e Kay, Christian; Roberts, Jane; Samuels, Michael; Wotherspoon, Irené, eds. (2009), Historical Thesaurus of the Oxford English Dictionary, Oxford: Oxford University Press; online edition (2024)
  18. ^ a b c Green, Jonathon (2010), Green's Dictionary of Slang, London: Chambers; digital ed. 2016–, https://greensdictofslang.com
  19. ^ Johnson, Samuel (1755), A Dictionary of the English Language, London; 4th ed. 1773; Johnson's Dictionary Online, ed. Beth Rapp Young et al.
  20. ^ Wright, Joseph, ed. (1898–1905), The English Dialect Dictionary, 6 vols., Oxford: Henry Frowde; via EDD Online 4.0, University of Innsbruck (CC BY 4.0)
  21. ^ a b c d Collins English Dictionary (2023), Glasgow: HarperCollins